November 2013

Board members present: Bob Ackerman, Pat Albright, Matt Keating, Gary LeClair, Rosie Pryor and Sharon Stiles. Board members absent: Tony McCown. Also present were: President Mary Spilde; Vice President Brian Kelly, Executive Dean Dawn DeWolf; Lane Community College Education Association President Jim Salt; and Lane Community College Employees Federation President Bob Baldwin; and Associated Students of Lane Community College President Paul Zito.

A. Chair Pryor called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

B. President's Report

I want to express my personal condolences to the family and friends, including many of us at this table, on the passing of Larry Romine. Larry made tremendous contributions to Lane first as its public relations director and then as a member of the board. It's very fitting that the board has a resolution on the agenda tonight in his honor. He will be deeply missed.

Thanks to Bob, Rosie, Sharon, Pat, Tony and Matt for attending the annual OCCA conference October 24-26. We enjoyed keynote presentations by WICHE President David Longanecker, Walla Walla Community College President Steven VanAusdle, AACC Senior Vice President for Government Relations David Baime, and President of the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, Rob Johnstone.

Best of all, we were able to honor our own Bob Ackerman, winner of the 2013 Howard Cherry Award for Outstanding Community College Board Member. This is the association's highest honor, and no one is more deserving than Bob. His record of service to Lane and students is unparalleled here at the college and in the state.

Lane was honored with an Outstanding Work Award from the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies (WCET). Otherwise known as a WOW award, this recognizes our innovative use of educational technologies in higher education, specifically for our Open Educational Resource (OER) Faculty Fellowship. The OER helps faculty create and use OERs in their courses and saves students money by reducing textbook requirements and increasing the number of textbook-free courses. Lane was the only community college and the only Oregon institution to win a WOW award. The other winners were the University of Central Florida and the University of North Carolina.

Enrollment continues to be up and down.

Seventh week figures for fall term show us down by 9.1 percent. Winter term registrations so far, which are highly subject to change at this early stage, are down 23 percent.International enrollment is up, and we made it onto the top five list for Oregon in the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange issued by the Institute of International Education, and funded by US Department of State, Bureau or Educational and Cultural Affairs. The top five Oregon institutions are, in order: University of Oregon (3370 students), Oregon State University (3025), Portland State University (2164), Portland Community College (768), and Lane (328). Last year we had 265 international students. Kudos to Jennifer Falzerano and her team.

With the shutdown in Washington behind us, Congressional budget leaders are slowly moving forward. As part of the agreement to end the government shutdown, House and Senate Budget Committees have begun negotiating the differences between their divergent plans for fiscal year (FY) 2014. The conferees have a December 13 deadline, although there are no immediate consequences for missing that deadline. Meanwhile, the federal government is funded by a continuing resolution (CR) that expires January 15. The CR largely preserves funding at the post-sequester FY 2013 levels. The shutdown agreement also extended the debt ceiling until on or around February 7. It appears that our annual trip to the National Legislative Summit in February will be a busy time.

I want to thank US Congressman Peter DeFazio for visiting Steve Candee's Political Science 201 students last Wednesday. I understand that other learners in the room were Pat Albright and Matt Keating. Rep. DeFazio has come to talk face to face with our students for many years. Kudos also to Steve Candee for making this possible.

There will be many changes in Salem next legislative session. One of the major changes for the education committees will be the loss of Representative Michael Dembrow, who will be filling the Senate seat vacated by Jackie Dingfelder. Michael, a faculty member at Portland Community College, has been one of the biggest community college advocates in the House and will be tough to replace. It looks like Chris Harker will take over as chair of the Higher Education Committee at least temporarily, but we should know more in a few weeks.

I continue to work on a couple of things at the state level. The presidents have continued to discuss performance based funding. I think it's fair to say that there has been a significant shift away from simply concentrating on the model that was developed and instead thinking about what might actually work. That work is ongoing, and I'm pleased to see that we're no longer focusing on pure performance based funding and the model that had been developed.

There was a study commissioned by the Governor's policy advisor and the Oregon Workforce Investment Board (OWIB) on workforce and the structure of workforce in Oregon. One of the recommendations is to move the workforce piece out of the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development. The seventeen college presidents oppose this shift. I presented last Friday to the OWIB on behalf of the presidents stating our concern. We're really interested in working with the OWIB and the Governor's office on the design, but we want to make sure there is a tight connection between workforce and education since that is a lot of what we do as community colleges. We also want to assure that the Higher Education Coordinating Commission encompasses workforce. We don't just want it to become a just an OUS board, and we believe workforce needs to be part of their focus.

Lane hosted the Eugene-Springfield Community Meeting on Oregon Education Redesign on October 24 at our Downtown Center. It was sponsored by the Oregon Learns project of the Oregon Business Council. I presented comments, as did Oregon Business Council President Duncan Wyse, Oregon Chief Education Officer Dr. Nancy Golden, and local education leaders with Connected Lane County.

Lane again co-sponsored a flu vaccination clinic with Lane County Health and Human Services. It was held October 30 at our Downtown Center. Nearly 500 people received free vaccinations. Thank you to Mona Arbuckle, Brett Rowlett, Amanda Moore, Tricia Tully, Denise Miller, and Mary Gross for their assistance.

Kudos to Christina Howard, Physical Therapist Assistant Program coordinator and lead instructor. Christina presented at the League for Innovation's Spotlight 2013, a virtual event that features Innovation of the Year Award winners, giving them international exposure. Christina's project titled, "Death to the Red Pen: Providing Rich and Timely Student Feedback Using Screencasts," won Lane's 2012 Innovation of the Year Award.

The Springfield City Council and Lane Transit District Board have approved a study to determine viability and support for mass transit improvements along Main Street and between Glenwood and Lane main campus, including EmX bus rapid transit service. The study is scheduled for completion in late 2014.

Everyone who has attended any of the Peacemakers Project events held so far with our two students, Deema Yusuf from Palestine, and Yaara Tal from Israel, have been very impressed. We're hopeful that they will have a good experience at Lane. They already have helped raise awareness and hope for peace for their home countries. Thanks to Clif Trolin, Jennifer Falzerano and Wendy Jett for collaborating on this program.

We had an energizing Achieving the Dream site visit on October 29. I think generally our coaches felt that we are making good progress but we would need to continue to work diligently this year, particularly in the area of developmental math which is one of the selected interventions that we are working on.

The Harvest Dinner on October 30 was a record-setting success. We raised more than $297,000 this year, including more than $74,000 for scholarships. This is an 11 percent increase over last year. Kudos to Wendy Jett, Heather Lee, Tiana Marrone-Creech, Philip Hudspeth and the Foundation team. And to the culinary folks, the food was amazing!

I want to thank Sharon for her support in allowing me to address the Florence City Club on November 1. It's always a pleasure to visit Florence.

It was fun to film a digital video with Wendy Simmons and Sandy Brown Jensen for the Wellness Profile Success Stories project. The purpose is to encourage and inspire employees to improve their health. We have such wonderful staff and facilities here and an outstanding wellness program so I'm happy to help promote that.

I attended the fall meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges last week. I met with Undersecretary Martha Kanter and among other things discussed the ratings system that has been suggested by President Obama. Hearings are going on right now on that ratings system. I don't know that I impacted anything, but I gave reasons why we shouldn't move forward with that for community colleges. For example, we are reflective of our local communities, and it doesn't make sense to compare us with other colleges that are quite different from us. Also, many of our students are place bound and can't make the decision to go to a different college based on ratings. There is an opportunity for anyone to get online and give their feedback on the rating system, and I would encourage people to do that.

We will observe the one-year anniversary of our Maxwell Student Veterans Center tomorrow, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You are invited to join our student veterans and our program staff. You may recall that the Center was named for Robert Dale Maxwell, a WWII Medal of Honor recipient and a 20-year auto mechanic instructor for Lane. Lane now serves roughly 1,000 veteran students each term.

Our Shining Star Scholarship Reception is Monday, November 18, starting at 4 p.m. in the Center for Meeting and Learning. It's always a moving experience and a wonderful, in-person reminder of why we dedicate ourselves to the community college mission.

After hearing the students' remarks, the board discussed the possibility of adding an agenda item, Cultural Competency, to the meeting.

Ackerman moved to add Cultural Competency as an agenda item. LeClair seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

President Spilde provided background on Lane's governance system and the proposal of a cultural competency policy which would require mandatory cultural training to Lane employees. The issue was discussed in the Diversity Council and then brought to College Council last May where four versions of the policy were proposed but not approved.

Board members each spoke in favor of creating a cultural competency policy and training and asked that more information and a policy be provided at the December meeting. (A complete transcript of the remarks made regarding cultural competency can be found at http://www.lanecc.edu/board/minutes.)

Brian Kelly, Craig Taylor, and Jennifer Steele provided the Strategic Directions report for 2012-13 for an annual review of progress toward strategic direction goals and objectives, accomplishments over the past year, and areas of focus and priority for the coming year. A hard bound report was distributed to all board members. All planning starts with Lane's mission, vision and core values. The five-year Strategic Plan was developed in 2010, and the strategic directions are the way in which we are operationalizing the plan. The Strategic Plan influences work in all areas, at the department level, in workgroups, campus teams, with the board. It advises other plans, such as enrollment management, program and organization review, and budget development. Work on the next five year plan will begin next year.

B. CENTER for Learning and Student Success

Alen Bahret, Bond Leadership Team Chair, and Todd Smith, Interim Facilities Director, updated the board on the status of the Center for Learning and Student Success project, including the budget and schedule, the schematic design, demolition costs, and architectural fee.

Albright moved that the board approve the project budget and schedule, schematic design, construction Phase 1 - Demolition GMP in the amount of $1,297,833 for Lease Crutcher Lewis, and the architectural fees for Phase 2 in the amount of $2,232,655 for Pivot Architecture. Stiles seconded.

A question arose regarding the $5.8 million which will be raised by the Foundation and what would happen if the funds cannot be raised. Smith explained that contingency funds could be used and replaced when the money was raised. He described the three types of contingency accounts. Spilde explained that the Foundation is working to launch a capital campaign, and this would be the first priority.

Motion passed 5-1. Ackerman dissented.

C. Tuition Index

LeClair moved to approve the use of the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) as the inflation benchmark for 2014-2015. Ackerman seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

D. Role of Oregon Community College Association (OCCA)

Spilde explained that OCCA is launching a strategic conversation regarding their role, and local boards have been asked to discuss and provide input. As Lane's OCCA representative, Albright explained that they are looking for ideas and recommendations on what to focus on or if a change in direction is needed. Ackerman wondered what alternatives were available and how much lobbying could be bought for the amount of membership dues. Keating regarded OCCA as an advocate for community colleges and is excited about its role and its relationship with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. Board members who attended the OCCA conference felt that the sessions were valuable and state issues were made relevant. Pryor noted that she had also participated in OCCA's board orientation and was in favor of continuing to support the organization. Stiles asked Albright to update the board after OCCA board meetings.

E. Association of Community College Trustees/Oregon Community College Association Board Report

Board members who attended the Association of Community College Trustees Annual Leadership Congress and the Oregon Community College Association Conference gave a report regarding the sessions and keynote speakers. A suggestion was offered that the board retreat be held after these events to allow discussion of ideas and practices learned at the conferences.

F. OSBA Election

Elections are currently being held for the Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) Legislative Policy Committee and Lane is OSBA member and is eligible to vote. Both candidates were invited to the meeting but could not attend.

Albright moved that the board fail to take action on this issue. Keating seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

G. Resolution No. 594 Honoring Board Member Larry Romine

Larry Romine, former board member, passed away on October 25. Albright and Ackerman each made a statement in remembrance of Dr. Romine. Pryor read the following resolution:

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine served as a member of the Lane Community College Board of Education for nine years in two separate terms of service, in the Zone 1 position from 1997 to 2001, and in the Zone 5 position from 2002 to 2007;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine achieved positive public support and visibility for Lane Community College locally, statewide and nationally, reporting on the founding of the college in 1964 for The Register-Guard, followed by a 26-year career at Lane as an instructor, writer, editor, foundation manager, and as the first director of Institutional Advancement from 1968 until his retirement in 1992;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine received the 2000 D. Richard Petrizzo Award for Career Achievement from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine researched and authored an early history of the college, "Lane Community College: The Parnell Years," published in 1998;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine worked with and supported all six presidents in the history of Lane Community College, from Dale Parnell to Dr. Mary Spilde;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine consistently advocated for students, the community, faculty and staff, and acted in the best interests of the college and the community;

WHEREAS, Dr. Larry Romine will be deeply missed by everyone at the college;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Education honors Dr. Larry Romine for his outstanding leadership and service to Lane Community College and the community.

Adopted by the Lane Community College Board of Education this 13th day of November, 2013.

Albright moved to approve the resolution. Ackerman seconded.

Motion passed unanimously.

The board took a 10 minute break at 8:50 p.m.

4. Policy Review

A. Second Reading

1. Community Outreach, A.110

The following changes were recommended to this policy.

Stiles moved, seconded by Albright, to approve the second reading of board policy A.110, Community Outreach.

It is a benefit to the college to participate in the community, be responsive to the needs of the college district and promote activities that develop positive relationships with the broader community.

With respect to the community, The president shall assure that:

The college promotes the image and awareness of the college in the district.

A comprehensive community outreach plan consistent with the mission, vision and core values that maximizes available material and financial resources is developed and implemented.

Efforts are coordinated in a manner that maximizes available material and financial resources and achieves greatest results.

A report on the status and results of the plan is regularly provided to the board.

ADOPTED: November 17, 2010REVISED: November 13, 2013

B. First Reading

1. Membership on the Board of Education, B.010

Keating asked that the Churchill district be included in the Zone 4 description. A second reading will be held in December.

The Board of Education of the Lane Community College District shall consist of seven members, each member elected to a four-year term by the qualified voters of the entire district. A member shall reside in the zone from which elected and shall not be employed by the College during the term of office. Two members shall be elected to represent the district at large and five members elected from zones, each to represent one of the following areas:

Zone 1 is the western college district, which includes the Bethel area of Eugene, Veneta, Dunes City, Florence, and Monroe.

Zone 2 is the northern college district, which includes North Eugene, Coburg, Harrisburg, and Junction City.

Zone 3 is the northeastern college district, which includes Springfield, Thurston, and the Marcola area.

Zone 4 is the southeastern college district, which includes the McKenzie River Valley, Creswell, Cottage Grove, Lowell, Oakridge, and Westfir.

Zone 5 is entirely within Eugene and, in general, the area south of the Willamette river and east of City View Street.

At-Large – Position 6 represents the entire college district.

At-Large – Position 7 represents the entire college district.

ADOPTED: November 9, 1998REVISED: July 17, 2002REVIEWED: October 14, 2003REVISED: October 10, 2007REVISED: June 9, 2010

2. Facilities

The following changes were recommended to this new policy. A second reading will be held in December.

It is the policy of Lane Community College's that physical facilities will be accessible, safe, secure, and adequate sufficient, and provide healthful working and learning environments that support Lane's mission, programs, and services. The primary mission of education will have first priority in the use of facilities on campus. The president may deny or limit the use of college facilities, within the applicable federal and state laws, to any individual or group unable, or unwilling, to comply with Lane's policies.

The President shall:

Develop and maintain policies and procedures governing the scheduling and use of facilities;

Develop and maintain policies and procedures regarding the safe use, storage, and disposal of hazardous or toxic materials;

Develop a process for regularly evaluating its facilities as to location, adequacy and suitability to carry out the College's educational mission;

Develop, implement, and regularly review a master plan which is consistent with its mission and long-range financial and educational plans. Periodic Biennial evaluation of the master plan, and its progress, will be made and submitted to the Board of Education for final approval.

3. Institutional Effectiveness

No changes were recommended to the following new policy. A second reading will be held in December.

In order to ensure that the academic programs and services offered by the college continue to be of the highest possible quality, all academic programs and services will engage in a formal process of review designed to assess and enhance program effectiveness.

The review process will be outcomes-based, data-driven, and implemented by the program itself. It will involve identification of quality indicators appropriate to the program, measurable baselines, and measurable progress toward improvement as needed. Reviews will occur on an ongoing, cyclical basis. The program review will evaluate:

whether educational or service objectives are consistent with the College's mission or purpose

the achievement of students in relation to the intended educational outcomes identified

the extent to which the College regularly uses the results of program or service review for improvement of its programs and services.

The President is responsible for the leadership in implementing this policy through the governance system.

5. Accountability/Reports

A. Benchmarks

Craig Taylor provided information on the following benchmarks:

Mission Fulfillment Indicators

3-Year Completion Rates by Declared Program

And the report:

Placement Test Outcomes – Recent High School Graduates Attending Lane

B. Facilities Update

An update on the status of bond and facility projects was presented to the board.

C. Financial Condition and Activities: Quarterly Report, A.050

The Financial Condition and Activities quarterly report was presented to the board.

6. Reports

ASLCC President Paul Zito reported the students have been working with Ty the Titan and Ty has been seen at several events around campus. ASLCC has finished up the issue-choosing campaign, and as of right now the top five issues are tuition affordability, textbook affordability, queer and inclusive curriculum, food sovereignty, and community college child care funding. The food pantry now has space on campus. The students are working with Food for Lane County and hoping to open the pantry at Thanksgiving. ASLCC is in the process of updating their bylaws to match last year's constitutional changes. He commented on the amount of effort that the students have put into cultural competency policy. Zito noted that this year's student government group are wonderful to work with. ASLCC is sending 65 students to the Oregon Students of Color Conference this weekend.

LCCEF President Bob Baldwin commented that the board had taken no action when Rodger Gamblin brought up the issue of a diversity policy at the September meeting. Baldwin is on College Council with Gamblin and had voted in favor of all four of the policies. Ten years ago, there had been a series of racial incidents. A taskforce was formed and recommended college wide diversity training, and the administration had not supported it. The union now thanks the administration for realizing that something needs to be done. Regarding last month's invitation to rejoin in a facilitated conversation with the college, the union thinks it is an excellent idea. However, since the administration was only acting on behalf of the board during negotiations, Baldwin invited the board to join the union in a facilitated conversation sans staff.

LCCEA President Jim Salt reported that the association has filed four grievances against the college this fall, and two of those grievances will probably be consolidated into one. The college and union are in bargaining and had been moving forward on economic matters, but at the last session the administration said they were done and were walking away from the table. Salt hoped the board had instructed the team to go back to the table. Salt named some of the faculty members who were opposed to the precise form of the diversity proposal, but not the general goal or even most of the content. A subcommittee has been formed from College Council members to work on language for a policy after consensus could not be reached last spring. Salt said a few words about Larry Romine's work on the board.

Executive Dean Dawn DeWolf reported that the Aviation Maintenance and Flight Technology programs have upgraded their signage. She thanked Tracy Simms and Funk Levis for their work on the signs. Kevin McDonald has been selected as Aviation Maintenance Student of the Month for October 2013. Twenty people from the local business community attended the 3D Rapid Prototype presentation sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the Advanced Technology Division. English as a Second Language Department faculty Colleen Shields, Diane Daudt and Indira Bakshi attended and presented at a Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages event held at Highline Community College. Sarah Ulerick, Science Division Dean, recently co-authored and published an article entitled A Roadmap to Engaging Part-Time Faculty in High-Impact Practices. The launch of Lane's new financial literacy program, SALT, has gone well, with over 26% of Lane's students activating membership in the first two weeks.

Vice President Brian Kelly recognized Rose Ellis and Cathy Nolan for their work on the budget document. He thanked Jen Steele, Craig Taylor, Byron Hughey, Ce Rosenow for their work on the Strategic Directions report. Kelly reported that Public Safety Director Jace Smith will be serving as Lane's Emergency Preparedness Director. Todd Smith will be serving as the Interim Director of Facilities Management and Planning (FMP) and Russ Pierson will be the Assistant Facilities Management and Planning through April. The Health Clinic has begun an extensive training process in order to move to a new health records program early next year. Kelly congratulated FMP employee Jeff Hanson for receiving the Employee of the Month award. He recognized Jennifer Hayward and the Institute for Sustainable Practices. Students, faculty, staff and managers engaged in a three hour review on how we calculate greenhouse gas emissions. The second annual Learning Garden cider pressing party will be held on November 21.

Board Reports

Keating wished a Happy Veteran's Day to the nearly one thousand vets Lane Community College serves. He congratulated Ackerman for receiving the Howard Cherry award. He congratulated the Foundation for raising $297,000 and $74,000 in scholarships. He reported that the Student Productions Association has formed a booster club. Keating requested reports from the six governance councils. He also requested that board members have lanecc.edu e-mail addresses.

Albright reported that he would be attending the Oregon State Board Association conference this weekend. He attended Steve Candee's class and commended him for serving as the political spokesperson for our community.

LeClair recently attended a performance of Lane's production "In the Next Room or the vibrator play," and he encouraged everyone to see it. He was glad to see that work is being done on a diversity policy.

Stiles thanked Spilde for speaking at the Florence City Club meeting. She appreciated the opportunity to attend the OCCA conference.

Ackerman expressed gratitude for receiving the Howard Cherry award and thanked everyone who helped with the nomination.

Pryor apologized for the late ending of the board meeting.

7. Date, Place, and Proposed Agenda Items for the Next Regular Meeting

Tuesday, December 3, 6:30 pm, Building 3, Room 216, Lane Community College Main Campus.